Reek of Quasi Putrefation-A very sweet scent - 95%

If only I could articulate the percussive tremblings of my jaw squarely hitting the ground as "Progeny of Rmdax Tasing" rumbled from my speakers, written here would be a near audible review of the album. A way of purely descibing the trancendal brilliance of this black metal masterpiece is not so easily attained as that, though, so what makes this great?

It could be the superb vocals courtesy of Freddy "Left Face of Mardou" Lin, a wielder of both a brilliant black metal scream and a grade A death growl. It could be the efforts of Jesse "The Infernal", a superb guitarist who's riffs are alternatingly overbearingly brutal and subtly melodic, but never less than exemplary to the symphonic black metal genre. Maybe Dani "Azathothian Hands", a criminally underused drummer, or Doris "Thunder Tears", who overcomes her hilarious name with superb bass work and beautiful choiral vocals, or CJ "Dispersed Fingers, who clearly belongs outside of the "obligatory black metal keyboardist" box is what makes this so essential. Perhaps it's the avant-garde nature of their music, personified by the excellent Su Nung "Bloody String", who skillfully makes his Oriental Violin relevant to their music.

Whatever makes this such a worthy rebuttal to black metal's otherwise localized nature, this is by any measure a great album. It's epic vision is fulfilled with a flourish, and every moment of listening to it is a joy. Near-flawless production makes sure that every nuance of artistry is encapsulated. Broad, ambitious concepts and immence artistry are explored with a genuine and infectious passion, as well as a viscious heaviness present throughout that reminds of this great band's relevance as a black metal band.

My only complaint is in the layout of the disc itself; it has four files on it which are Video CD movies, and as such, may confuse the CD Player. But that's an increadibly insignificant quibble about such a masterpiece of extreme metal.

This is a superb album full of originality and style, and despite being short, it's never less than increadible. This won't fail to appeal to even the most jaded of metal coinnoisseurs.